Probably one of our most underated bird, the humble Stock Dove has done very well in recent years and has moved into more urban area from the countryside and woodland fringes and can now be found in may urban parks and gardens. They are still largely shy and unapproachable birds but at Rainham Marshes where they were a scarce winter visitor, we now have two or three pairs nesting and sometimes over 200 feeding out on Wennington Marsh. They have also become accustomed to our bird feeding stations and can now be seen close to the visitors centre. These include out tailess individual that has been coming back for four winters now. Always looks very peculiar!
Image by Russ Sherriff
Howard Vaughan, Information Officer